


The first things that she took from me were selfishness and sleep

by PrettyBiForAJedi, the_all_seeing_storm



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Maul is an Awkward Murder Dad, Other, Past Child Abuse, teething is tough on everyone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26263669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyBiForAJedi/pseuds/PrettyBiForAJedi, https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_all_seeing_storm/pseuds/the_all_seeing_storm
Summary: She glanced at the little one in her lap. “And what is your name, sweetheart?” she cooedMaul blanked.He hadn’t actually thought to name her, his little revenge against his master.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22
Collections: Blasterbolts and Butterfly wings AU





	The first things that she took from me were selfishness and sleep

Maul groaned in frustration. He was sure that if he had hair he would have torn it out by now. He hadn't slept properly in three days, and even with the force the strain was wearing on him. 

She wouldn't stop wailing. 

The little one had been a quiet pup up to this point, only mewling and so on if she needed something. Maul was very grateful for that. Between some quick encrypted searches on the holonet and a can do attitude he had generally figured out how to take care of her. But something was wrong this time. She just wouldn't stop.

He put the little beast in the makeshift crib he had fashioned out of cushions in the sleeping quarters like the netsite said and made his way to the cockpit. The peace and calm of hyperspace even more out of reach than usual as an unholy sound not unlike a mating gundark bellowed from his future apprentice's lungs. 

Any trace thoughts of murder that had flitted across his mind in the last 24 hours left him then as he remembered what he had promised himself. 

His apprentice.

She would become his new beginning. He had always come back from failure, made a new destiny for himself if his current path was taken from him. And force be DAMNED if he was going to fail this time because of a crying child. He was a karking Lord of the Sith. He could do this. 

Still...

He understood with sudden clarity why Sidious had left him in a room by himself for most of his childhood. Maul had assumed it was to make him strong, an emotionless tool for the Sith. The perfect apprentice. But maybe it had actually been because Sidious couldn't be bothered to put in the effort of caring for him himself. 

Maul thought uncomfortably of his first memories on Mustafar. He had been so lonely that he had made an imaginary friend of his reflection in the window. A little boy who could leave the room and play and make friends without being punished. Now an older, much harder man stared back at him from the cockpit's canopy, his tattoos made from the fabric of the universe itself passing by. 

She still hadn't stopped crying.

"How does this much noise come from a body so tiny?" He said wearily to his reflection. 

The man in the window had no answers either. 

Maul ran over his new checklist again mentally, hoping that he hadn't overlooked something. 

Food - check. The formula from the standard emergency kit he had on board was deemed sufficient for the pup's nutritional needs until he got to whatever passed for a market at their next stop. He would have to find something more substantial to encourage proper and optimal development for her but it would have to wait. 

Diapers - check. The less said about this experience the better. Maul shuddered. It was a necessary evil. He wasn't sure that that …. waste that came out of her was supposed to be this watery or occur that often but she was still drinking regularly and hydrated. The holonet said that she was still within acceptable ranges. It was still disgusting. 

Temperature - check. The ship was colder than he would have liked for the pup but he had donated one of his old robes for this purpose which did the trick quite nicely. 

He'd also taken to carrying her against his chest with a sling he'd fashioned as he worked around the ship. She seemed to enjoy the sound of his two hearts beating and the extra heat from his naturally higher body temperature. The holonet had said that the holding was important for his tiny pup's brain development. So was talking to her. Maul had felt silly at first, narrating what he was doing; making minor repairs on the ship, piloting, meditating over the ancient teachings of the Sith, his plans of revenge against all who wronged him and her future place in them. But she would babble and giggle back at him till she fell asleep. She slept a lot. Not at the same time of course, she was too young, but Maul had never been a heavy sleeper. 

Maul enjoyed it more than he would ever admit to anyone, even himself. 

He was jolted out of his reverie by the realization that miraculously there was quiet. His desire to not question his luck and sleep warred with the knowledge that whatever had made her stop crying was probably not a great thing for his future apprentice to be doing at the moment. She was a force sensitive after all. Discipline reluctantly won. 

With a frustrated sigh Maul made his way back to her makeshift crib, quietly as possible as to not wake her should she actually be sleeping. 

She was not.  
Instead she was restless, fitful, and fighting sleep, and... pulling on her ears of all things? Maul picked her up, hoping that the extra rocking motions would help her finally nod off. Her mouth was extra wet and she drooled on him.

Maul hoped this wouldn’t be a regular human child thing. 

Reaching to examine her closely, Maul moved her hands away from her ears to examine them and see if maybe she was injured in someway, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. While he was examining her she had latched onto his thumb. 

She seemed to calm at this action sucking and gumming on his thumb. Confused, Maul tried removing his thumb from the child’s mouth but she held onto his hand and continued to suck on his thumb. He tried again remove his thumb from her mouth but she still held onto him. 

“What is it you want?” Maul sighed. She began to get fussy again, trying to pull Maul's hand back to her mouth. Not wanting her to start crying again, Maul let her resume sucking on his thumb which calmed her immediately. Defeated, he removed the child from her makeshift crib, cradling her to his chest while she continued to gum his thumb.

He took her to his quarters and laid her down on his bed beside him. Moving blankets and his pillow aside, giving her a clear space to lay without the risk of covering her. By this time she had settled enough that she was fighting off sleep, cooing and babbling softly at Maul. Even though she had stopped suckling on Mauls thumb, she kept a tight grip on his hand refused to let go of him. Maul couldn’t help but smile at the small creature that was seeking him for comfort. Hardly anything had saught him out for comfort. It felt good, this warm feeling in his chest at the sight of the sleeping child holding his hand as if it were a life line. 

Gently as not to wake her he moved her closer to himself till she was resting against his chest, his other arm wrapped around her protectively, keeping her close while he joined her in sleep.

\-----------------

12 standard galactic hours later, a cloaked figure overpaid the docking master at some backwater planet’s local spaceport to keep a nondescript vessel in a safe area and off of the docking manifest. With interest to secure the protection of the system’s local crime syndicate of course. While dressed in darker colors, the graceful figure was relatively unremarkable. Or, at least, would have been, if he had not been wearing a fussy human youngling on his chest in a sling. 

“It takes all kinds” the dockmaster muttered, and pocketed his share of the credits.

Maul grimaced. He did not like this, the extra scrutiny from passers by as he left the dockyards and made his way through the crowd to what promised to be the local market, but he couldn’t leave his apprentice on the ship. She was too young.  
And too precious to leave in the care of another. 

No.  
His apprentice stays with him. 

The bundle on his chest cooed, and he smiled down at her without realizing it. 

“Come now, little one, let's get you something to eat.” 

She was still gumming on anything she could stick in her mouth. He had finally convinced her to leave his thumb alone for the time being, but she was still tugging on her ears and would begin to wail again if she was not busy nomming on his tabards. His chest was already wet with her drool though the sling. 

He was so tired. 

Probably why he was surprised by the tug of a novice pickpocket by his sleeve. 

Before Maul could think he instinctively grabbed hold of the would be assailant’s wrist and twisted hard while pivoting so his enemy was in full view. 

His other hand instinctively shielding his apprentice, Maul snarled at the …….well dressed Nautolan woman?

She cried out. And Maul looked at her, confused. She was obviously not a pickpocket at all; but then, why had she tried to get his attention? He looked at his surroundings, realizing their interaction was gathering attention from the other local shopkeepers and patrons. After a pause, he let her wrist go. 

“My…. apologies. You startled me.”

The woman smiled and rubbed her wrist “That, sir, is an understatement. But it’s alright” she smiled at her neighbors, who lost interest, and gestured for Maul to follow her. 

To Maul’s surprise, he did. 

Her orange and yellow robes fluttering in the wind, the purple skinned woman led him to a small cafe nearby. She chattered to him over her shoulder “I’m so sorry for scaring you like that, just saw your little one, and thought I'd say ‘Hi’. Name’s Ulenyia.” She gestured to a human woman behind a tiled counter with an impressive display of pastries, “And that’s my wife, Triss”. 

Maul politely nodded in her direction. And she smiled back. A little boy tore past Maul suddenly and Ulenyia picked him up with a nonchalant ease from experience

“And this little hyperdrive is Tam” she smiled at the squirming, giggling youngling in her arms and blew a raspberry into his tummy before sending him off toward his other parent. 

His apprentice started to wail again.

It was nice while it lasted, Maul thought wearily. 

“Ah I remember the teething days” Ulenyia gestured to a chair in the corner with a small table, and after a moment to consider, Maul took it. After rustling the screaming pup out of her sling and into his arms, Maul realized what the woman had said. 

“Teething?” 

“ Oh yes, I remember.” Ulenyia called toward his direction as she bustled her way to the back kitchen. “Such a trying age with young humans, I’ll be right there in a second!”  
Maul tried to rock his apprentice back to sleep and in a few moments, the woman reappeared at the table with a small tray. The caff coming from the large cup on it smelled heavenly, and Maul awkwardly reached across his apprentice to his belt pouch for some credits. 

“Oh no, none of that.” Ulenyia smiled at him, “This is on the house. Teething time is no joke. A gift, one parent to another.” 

Maul paused for a moment, distrusting of her kindness, but realized he was too tired to care about the consequences of accepting this family’s hospitality. Besides, If things went sideways, Maul was still confident in his ability to eliminate the problem while keeping his little one safe. Exhausted or no. He glanced at the caff again, warily. 

It smelled so good. 

“Here” She motioned to the side of the tray at a little dish with a powder made of pink crystals inside. “It’s a stim powder with some sweetener” she took a pinch of it and put it in her mouth. “I found it to be a helpful addition to my caff when Tam was in that stage. Mind if I hold her for a bit?” 

Maul warred with himself a moment before another bloodcurdling scream burst from the pup’s lungs. He checked their surroundings once more for potential threats and handed her over to the woman, eyes never leaving his charge as he took a few spoonfulls of the powder and stirred it into the cup of caff before bringing it to his lips. 

Kriff.

Maul wasn’t sure if it was the sleep deprivation, or if it was the stim powder working it’s magic through his veins, but this was the best cup of caff he had ever had in his life. Ulenyia took out a brightly colored ring from her pocket and let the little one put it in her mouth. The wailing stopped as his pup aggressively gummed on the toy. 

“It looks like it’s a little on the early side for her, but as soon as that tooth pops out she’ll be a lot happier.” Ulenyia commented

“I see.” Maul lied

Ulenyia eyed him from across the table, not unkindly. “Being a new parent can be very difficult. Especially if you don’t have someone to help lighten the load. Forgive my presumption, but how are you holding up?” 

Maul found himself answering truthfully before he could stop himself. “It doesn’t matter. She’s the only family I have left.” 

She reached her hand and placed it on his for a moment in sympathy before straightening “In either case, the teething ring should help a bit. Tam doesn’t need it anymore anyway. If it gets too soft or warm you can stick it in the conservator for a couple minutes and it will get cold again. Humans like warmth but cold helps numb the pain, and giving her something to chew on will help the milk teeth get through her gums” 

“Milk teeth?”

“Right now, she's growing her first set so she can start eating solid food, but humans grow a more permanent set when they are a few years older” She eyed him again “They aren’t like horns or nails where you have to file them down. I learned that the hard way with Tam” she laughed. “Thank the goddess Triss came home early before I did too much damage. Humans are weird sometimes” 

She glanced at the little one in her lap. “And what is your name, sweetheart?” she cooed

Maul blanked.

He hadn’t actually thought to name her, his little revenge against his master. 

Ah. that’s it. 

“Revenge” 

“Rey - vhanje? Am i saying that right?”

“Yes” he glanced at her concerned face. “It’s a family name” he said flatly, and stared at her; daring her to say anything till his daughter broke the spell by dropping her new toy on the floor. Before she could start crying again Ulenyia picked it up and handed his little one back over to him. 

“Let me clean this off real quick, mister…..?”

“Maul” 

“Maul” she smiled again, and left with the empty tray, coming back to his rescue with the cleaned toy. 

“Thank you, Lady Ulenyia, for your assistance” 

She laughed again. “Hear that Triss?” She called back to her wife, “I’m a Lady now!” The human woman came over, with several plates laden with pastries balanced expertly on one arm, and gently kissed her on the cheek “You’re always a Lady to me.” Ulenyia blushed a pretty shade of indigo and shooed her wife away towards the other customers before turning back to Maul, who had gotten up from the table, his caff finished. 

“But really, it is no trouble”, she said as she helped put a sleepy Revenge back into her sling on Maul’s chest. “Us normal parents have to stick together in the face of all the weird things that humans do as they grow up. Let me tell you, I am NOT looking forward to Tam’s teenage years. Triss tells me human puberty is awful. But..” she inspected her work, and satisfied with the result, smiled up at him “but it is so, so worth it. I wouldn’t trade Tam or any of the experiences Triss and I are having raising him for anything.” She patted Maul on the arm, sending him on his way back to the market. “It was a pleasure to meet you and your daughter, Maul, but I’ve probably kept you here long enough.” 

Maul nodded and turned to leave, thoughtful. 

“Good luck with your weird human child!” Ulenyia called after him, waving. 

Maul turned back, and flashed her a quick smile, before melting into the crowd.


End file.
